Night Shift
by Lizard Pie
Summary: A little topic long over due: a cute CypherTrinity. Set eight years before Neo, late night on the Neb. Not romance. Please R&R.


AN: come on, it had to be done. There's way to much 'Cypher's evil, never had a conciounce, and he and Trinity never had a decent moment between them'. Nine years is a long time, something nice must have happened. Now for a long over-due little fiction.

Night Shift

She wasn't surprised to find him taking his shift as he was, nursing whatever was in his mug and trading off between reading code and watching the scanners, leaning dangerously on the back legs of his chair.

This new guy who called himself Cypher had just worked out basic functioning a month ago. Back in the Matrix, he was a psychology major who worked for a video game company of all things. It goes to show that just because you go to school and get your masters is no guarantee of where you'll end up.

According to his statistics, no one could create better alternate realities. He was practically the head of the production teams for the last three hottest games. Normally, these kind of people weren't given a second thought. That's why she had been shocked when Morpheus had sent them off to pick him up.

He was still in the mourning stage- watching the Matrix scroll past his screen. Life passing by before his eyes. He was regretting the red pill, she could tell.

But then, he'd tried to make a life out of observing people and finding out what made them tick. Watching people was what he was trained in- maybe it was hard to let it go.

"Cypher?" She asked lightly, hiding a smirk as he jumped and almost fell out of his seat. None the less he ended up letting the front legs of the chair land with a perfect thud, cleared his screens and stood.

"I was starting to wonder if you'd forgotten about me. Glad I was wrong." He flashed her a quick, canine-bearing grin before collecting his mug and heading for the rooms. "'Nice night." He offered a wave by shaking his mug at her.

"Likewise," she said, giving him a nod he wouldn't see. As she set up, she listened to his long, quick stride carry him down the hall. Stop, back track a step and a half. A long pause. Roughly around where the watch list was posted, she registered.

"Is there a problem, Cypher?" She asked without looking over her shoulder- she had too much work to get done to hesitate on what was probably nothing. There was no response for a bit.

"I... I'll be right back." A metallic clink as he put his mug down, he began running down the hall. It was funny, how she could tell an almost strut-like tone even in the run.

Trinity frowned and looked over her shoulder at the abandoned mug.

Something about this new arrival rubbed her entirely the wrong way. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised by that. She'd seduced him into the car with a quick flirt, a quicker dance, an even quicker implication of sex. None the less, they had all been there and this man wasn't ready to abandon those signals.

He followed her with his eyes, metaphorically jabbed her just to keep her talking, tried to move as close as possible without risking touching her and giving himself away. A child with a crush stuck in a man's body.

His skills were average, from what she could see. He could write, he could blend in, he could shoot well enough; however, there still didn't seem to be anything exceptional about him at all.

Maybe it took the right circumstances for him to shine. Maybe he just hadn't been met with those circumstances yet, but how many chances were they to give him? Morpheus always could see something; but he had better start showing off or Trinity was going to request transfer orders to another ship. They had too many problems to worry about than another unnecessary mouth to feed.

Long, quick stride, not particularly heavy or hurried. He was back for his cup.

"What was the problem?" She asked curtly, not breaking her typing pace. Cypher picked up the mug and finished off what was left with an audible gulp. Yet another way he was wearing on her nerves- how he always ate quickly, as if someone were going to take it from him if he didn't choke it down.

"No problem, I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind me sleeping here and wake me for next shift." That stopped her.

Trinity looked over her own copy of the watch sheet before turning around. Arms crossed, she eyed him with her most disciplinary tight-lipped frown.

"Your shifts are over for the night, Cypher," she said flatly. He quirked an eyebrow. His weight shifted, not uncomfortably but in a manner as to assert his authority over her. She tightened her lips further, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to brow-beat Cypher into respecting her rank. She was in no mood to deal with this so late- scratch, early.

"The next shift is Mouse. He's an eight year old kid, for Christ's sakes. Where I grew up, that was the age you were running around playing tag, not defending your crew-mates against robot attacks."

"Well, this situation is different, if you hadn't noticed," she hissed, letting just enough malice to seep into her tone. "At the age _you_ were playing _tag_, Mouse has found purpose in his life saving the human race so..." Cypher returned her expression.

"So he's still a kid. And the situations may be different, but nothing's gonna change the fact that he's still a god damn kid. The least I can do is let him sleep once and a while." Trinity stopped cold, eyeing him as she tried to put normal Cypher mentality into what he was showing her.

He narrowed his eyes just a little bit more. "His alarms off, and I have forty-some minutes I need to sleep before I take his shift. So I can either go all the way down to my quarters and pass out, probably not waking up in time, or I can sleep here on the table and you can be a decent human and wake me up so that kid can start acting like a kid." He pursed his lips.

"It's your choice, Trinity."

She blinked and looked Cypher over again.

"Do you want a blanket?"

Cypher smirked, shook his head, and made himself comfortable on the table.

Trinity watched on silently as within three minutes, Cypher was fast asleep. Snoring lightly (she wasn't surprised), but otherwise silent and still.

Clichè as it was, he looked innocent in his sleep. Features softer, the need for constant defense gone from his face, he could have passed by Trinity as sweet.

And maybe he was. Maybe they just hadn't given him any of the opportunities he needed. Maybe this was the real Cypher, underneath the sarcastic, paranoid, occasionally ruthless person he displayed.

Mouse had struck a cord with him, and maybe this was his coming out.

Maybe not.

Trinity stood and moved closer, enough to smell the alcohol on his breath and the weak smell of what they used for soap. Enough to hear he had a small whistle when he inhaled.

She didn't know if he would amount to anything worth while, if anything at all. But for now, Trinity bent down.

She gave him a small peck on the cheek.

"You're sweet, for a jackass." She whispered to him. His eye twitched lightly in reply. Trinity smirked as she returned to her work.

Maybe she'd just wait on those transfer orders.

. So, what did you think? Wrong? Cute? Did it fill you with murderous rage? Reviews welcome, please don't flame a bonfire.


End file.
